woo hoo---added some clean up crew

[Heymybigfish]

i bought

3 black turbo
2 mexi grazers
5 scarlet hermits


i dont really want crabs, but i figured it will give me some variety to watch for now...until i add some fish!

[Ice Prince]

..........

[Reefneck]

Oh boy! This coming from the kid that said he is in no hurry and won't rush anything! Adding livestock even when advised not to.

Anyone else wonder why I just shut up on this?

[Heymybigfish]

i was not going to buy anything...when i was at the pet store having my water tested...they told me i should put these in////the guy 'advised' me to do so....i asked him why and he said i should not wait too long before adding something living...to see how it handles the water....

i know i shouldn't of...but i was like....well if the guy is telling me...i dont wanna seem like a jerk and tell him i think he is wrong....

so...shold i keep them in the bags and bring em back tomorrow if he is not working?....i did not add them yet...BECAUSE i was unsure if i should...like you said...i said im in no hurry and DEFINITLY dont wanna kill something.

[musho3210]

I dont really want to get fully involved since im a newbie, but if your so keen on not killing anything, i think you would have said no to what he said.

Whats worse, saying
"no i dont feel that comfortable to add anything live yet, maybe next week"
or
"Sorry, i dont want these anymore, i changed my mind, i have my reciept so i hope i can get a refund"

And if you go with number 1 the lfs will shrug it off and try to sell these to you again the next time you come in, they want your business.

Number 2 they may not take you that seriously since they may think everything they sell you will end up back at the store.

Plus keeping them in bags for a long amount of time may not be that good for them, but im not sure nor have any proof if that is true.

[Bear]

hmm, well u can never really trust the people trying to sell u ne thing....that's their job, to get you to buy stuff

What is ur ammonia at? I would bet that they will be fine. I've seen turbo snails go through some pretty nasty stuff before. And just to let u know, when it comes to a clean up crew thats just the tip of the iceberg. I would get about 60 snails. Some turbos, astera, cerith, and nassarius (very important). Then maybe around 20 hermits.

Yes the hermits will attack each other and snails, but oh well, I still like them and won't get rid of the ones I have.

You will also find that it is not the hermits you will grow to hate, it will be the snails....jerks are always moving coral. I have had things glued down, hard!, for months, and then one morning Ill find it laying on the sand with a big stupid coraline encrusted turbo snail in its place.

[Heymybigfish]

thats awesome bear....awesome like funny....i ended up putting them in the tank, just beacause like he said, the bag probably is not a good place...my amonia was a 0.5ppm..it was at 1.5 2 days ago....but i still show no nitrites...so it makes me wonder how the ammonia is dropping.

[Bear]

ok. The reason ur ammonia is dropping and u see no nitrite is because you added ammonia to the tank. That means there is a bunch of ammonia, but b/c ur rock was cured u already have all of the bacteria so on ur tests it just shows it going from ammonia to nitrate.

U really need to add nothing else for a while. You have ammonia and I bet ur nitrate is super high right now too. Just let the tank sit for a while now. I would say to be safe, let it go for a couple of weeks. Keep checking the water, and at the end do a 25% WC (bigger if needed) to keep the nitrates down.

Did you take off the fluval yet?

Do you have lighting above the tank? what is it? Make sure and have them on around 8 hrs a day, and don't feed the snails and crabs.

[Damon]

etropicals.com has one of the best sales when it comes to cleanup crew. Just purchase $60.00 or more and overnight shipping is free. I build my own packages from there when I need them. Damn hermits killing my snails. Now that I have many, many empty shells they wont be a problem. Not buying any more blue legs either. Gonna stick with scarlets.